Improvement in machine for cutting- grape-vines



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L'OUIs W. MAYEILOI sONOI/IA, CALIFORNIA.

' Leners Para: Ivo. 86,681, zaad February 9, 1869.A

. IMPROVEMENT IN Maresme Fon CUTTING- GRAPE-vines.

To all whom 'it ma/y concern Be it known that I, LOUIS W. MAYE'R, of Sonoma, county of Sonoma, State of California, have invented l an Improved Machine` forv Cutting Grape-Vines; and

I do herebydeclare the following description and ac vcompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any per son skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains, to make and use my said invention or improvements without further invention or experiment.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for cutting grape-vines, which have been pruned from the main vine', intp small pieces, in order that they may be useful as a manure, by being turned under by the plow and allowed to rot, thus restoring to the soil the substance which is drawn from it to produce the vines.

It is a well-known fact that where grapes are grown for a series of years upon the same spot, the soil will lose, in a great measure, that substance which is required to nourish them, and` unless some means be devised to restore that principle or substance, the land will iinally become-worthless for that purpose, and my object is to restore it by cutting up the vines and allowing them to rot and become a manure.A

-Mymachine consists of frame mounted upon broadi'aced wheels, furnished with inside gearing, in which pinionsoperate for driving the kuis-es or cutters, which are attached at intervals around thepinion-shaft, and stand at an angle. A stationary knife is also attached tc the axle of the4 wheels.V Passing across the iiame, back of the wheels, and turning loosely on small axles at each end, which' have Vtheir bearing in the side timbers of the frame, is a shaft, from which long curved fingers, which sweep to the ground in 'ont, depend, and gatherup the vines. To oueof the wheels, and near its face or rim, is attached an arm, which carries a series of shorter curved ngers, which, passing around with the wheel, take up the vines from the long iingers, and drop them -into a trough over the knives,-

where they are caught by the knives and cnt into small chips, which fall to the ground beneath. Y, "To more fully illustrate and describe my invention, Areference is had to the 'accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, of' which- Figure lis a side sectional elevation of my machine. -Figure 2 is a plan.

The frame A ismounted upon the two broad-faced I .ters Patent, is-

4for the purpose herein describe wheels B B', as shown. i

The pinions C O engage 'in this gearing, and carry the'twoshafts D D, which have their bearings in the centre and at each end, thepne revolving independent of the other.

-flhese shafts carry the knives or cutters a are set at the proper angle.

Attached to the axle of the wheels is a knife, E, between which and the knives a da the vines fall and are cut.

A shaft or roller,F, works looselyl across the frame,

whiohareprovided with inside gearing a,

a a', which back of the Wheels B B', and has, depending from i t in a curve, a series of long fingers, b b b, which sweep along the ground to the front of the machine, and take up thevines after they have been pruned and allowed Ato fall' to the ground.

An arm, Gg' is attached to one of the wheels near its periphery, and extends across to near the wheel on the opposite side, and carries a series of short curved iingers, c c c, which, passing around with the wheel in au oppositedirection to the travel of the machine, enter between the long fingers b b b, taking up the vines, and depositing them in a'trough, H, above theknives, from whence they are fed betweenthe knives, and cut into small ybits or chips, under.

Having thus described my invention,

What I 'claim as new, and desire to secure by Let- 1. The vine-cutter, consisting of the stationary knife E and the revolving. knivesct a a', or equivalent'device, together with the feeding-hopper or trough H, the A Whole constructed and operating snbstantiallywas and 2. The long curvediingers b h for taking up the vines, together with the revolving arm G and its iingers c c or equivalent device,

to the feeding trough or hopper, substantially as herein described. i

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal. L. W. MAYER. [In s.] Witnesses:

J. L. BOONE,

GEO. H, SrnoNe.

and fall to the ground, to be plowed for carrying the vines' 

